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MTaylor

MTaylor

Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2022
Messages
9
Reaction score
10
Location
Palestine, Texas
I'm not really a rancher. Just a guy who retired from something else, and own 50ACRs. Trying to figure out what I can do with it. From time to time there are cows on my place, but they belong to a man down the road who I let put his cows here to help keep it grazed down. Would like to start something own my own. Don't need it produce a big income, but would like it to pay for itself. I don't need another hobby that cost me! Don't know much about cattle, {yet}! 30 acrs are pretty clear, working on clearing the other 20.
 
MTaylor said:
I'm not really a rancher. Just a guy who retired from something else, and own 50ACRs. Trying to figure out what I can do with it. From time to time there are cows on my place, but they belong to a man down the road who I let put his cows here to help keep it grazed down. Would like to start something own my own. Don't need it produce a big income, but would like it to pay for itself. I don't need another hobby that cost me! Don't know much about cattle, {yet}! 30 acrs are pretty clear, working on clearing the other 20.
Click to expand...
Welcome...

If you don't want to get too deep into the maintenance of running your own cattle you might want to ask the guy running his on your land if he would consider including a cow or two of yours in his herd. Let him manage your cows so you can relax and learn (or not) from him and get a couple of calves a year to pay for him using your land.

Where are you? You should put the location on your profile because much of the information provided here is dependent on where you are. For instance... clearing your land might be advisable in some places, light clearing in others... and it's also nice to have a 20 acre wood lot in other places.
 
Welcome, 50 acres seems like a good amount of land to start your herd. how many cattle does the man down the road turn in and for how long. If you don't want to jump in with a big investment, Travlr has good advice for you especially if you don't have facilities to treat, vaccinate, or handle cattle yet. If you want to just do your own thing, I suggest buying some bred older cows, let them calf (hopefully without any problems) and sell later. of course, there are several different paths you can take. good luck with whatever you chooses to do.
 
Travlr said:
Welcome...

If you don't want to get too deep into the maintenance of running your own cattle you might want to ask the guy running his on your land if he would consider including a cow or two of yours in his herd. Let him manage your cows so you can relax and learn (or not) from him and get a couple of calves a year to pay for him using your land.

Where are you? You should put the location on your profile because much of the information provided here is dependent on where you are. For instance... clearing your land might be advisable in some places, light clearing in others... and it's also nice to have a 20 acre wood lot in other places.
Click to expand...
Anderson County, just outside Palestine Texas.
 
Dsth said:
Welcome, 50 acres seems like a good amount of land to start your herd. how many cattle does the man down the road turn in and for how long. If you don't want to jump in with a big investment, Travlr has good advice for you especially if you don't have facilities to treat, vaccinate, or handle cattle yet. If you want to just do your own thing, I suggest buying some bred older cows, let them calf (hopefully without any problems) and sell later. of course, there are several different paths you can take. good luck with whatever you chooses to do.
Click to expand...
Some time he has as many as 25 to 30, and he will leave them a couple weeks to a month. He takes them off just before deer season cuz they wreck my feeders.
 
MTaylor said:
Anderson County, just outside Palestine Texas.
Click to expand...

Welcome. If you don't mind me saying so, this might not be the best time to get into the cattle business. If your wife is sick you don't want to be getting calls at midnight from the sheriff's department saying somebody drove through your fence and your cows are on the road.

When she gets better you got excellent advice from @Dsth about buying older cows. You might even consider buying them in the spring, let them have a calf, and sell them all in the fall when your grass gets short. Repeat the next spring. Those of us who are at or near retirement age don't always enjoy getting out in winter to feed cows.
 
Dsth said:
Welcome, 50 acres seems like a good amount of land to start your herd. how many cattle does the man down the road turn in and for how long. If you don't want to jump in with a big investment, Travlr has good advice for you especially if you don't have facilities to treat, vaccinate, or handle cattle yet. If you want to just do your own thing, I suggest buying some bred older cows, let them calf (hopefully without any problems) and sell later. of course, there are several different paths you can take. good luck with whatever you chooses to do.
Click to expand...

Rafter S said:
Welcome. If you don't mind me saying so, this might not be the best time to get into the cattle business. If your wife is sick you don't want to be getting calls at midnight from the sheriff's department saying somebody drove through your fence and your cows are on the road.

When she gets better you got excellent advice from @Dsth about buying older cows. You might even consider buying them in the spring, let them have a calf, and sell them all in the fall when your grass gets short. Repeat the next spring. Those of us who are at or near retirement age don't always enjoy getting out in winter to feed cows.
Click to expand...
Well all the fenced area is in the back, so they would have to be 4wheeling. I'm on a very light travelled county rd. But your right about getting called out in the middle of the night. Thats why I retired. That happen a lot. But I was ready. 40 years was enough!
 
Travlr said:
Where are you? You should put the location on your profile because much of the information provided here is dependent on where you are. For instance... clearing your land might be advisable in some places, light clearing in others... and it's also nice to have a 20 acre wood lot in other places.
Click to expand...
This! And how many cows per acre. Currently, according to the FSA, we should have no more than 1 cow per 6 acres - but that doesn't include wooded acreage, which has some of the best grass.

And welcome, @MTaylor. Love your avatar pic!
 
I would start by taking control of your land. Start charging the guy down the road for pasture lease and limit the number of animals put on it. He doesn't care if your land gets over grazed and turns to dust and weeds, you need to control that. You can tell him how many cows and for what length of time he can have the animals on your land.
I don't know Texas, but here in MT if I put 30 cows on 50 acres it would be dust in 3 days. Here we charged last grazing season, $25 per pair per month, bulls are $30, so you could tell him for example, 10 pair + 1 bull for 3 months to be re evaluated monthly for x amount monthly.
If you want your own animals, start out with maybe 10-12 yearlings at the start of your grazing season and sell them before you need to supplement feed.
 
MTaylor said:
Some time he has as many as 25 to 30, and he will leave them a couple weeks to a month. He takes them off just before deer season cuz they wreck my feeders.
Click to expand...
I agree with Dsth if your neighbor will let you run a few cows with his for the privilege of using your land for grazing that would be the best way to go. Any other thing is going to cost money and time, and it will become more than a hobby. Also remember cattle need shade partiularly down here in Texas so don't clear all of the land.
 
I agree with Travlr to the extent you need to take control of your land. This can lead to a problem when the way you manage your
land does not agree with the way he manages his cows. [for illustration only] I rotational graze and never let cattle in a paddock for
more than 6 days then off the area for 35 or more days. (The caveat here is very little is carved in stone in this business)
Electric cross fencing might enable him to keep cattle on you for a longer period and not over graze an area.
Anything I might say in regard to the land and cattle, should in my opinion, give difference to what is taking place in the house
as that would have priority. In that regard I wish both of you God's grace. LVR
 
Travlr said:
Welcome...

If you don't want to get too deep into the maintenance of running your own cattle you might want to ask the guy running his on your land if he would consider including a cow or two of yours in his herd. Let him manage your cows so you can relax and learn (or not) from him and get a couple of calves a year to pay for him using your land.

Where are you? You should put the location on your profile because much of the information provided here is dependent on where you are. For instance... clearing your land might be advisable in some places, light clearing in others... and it's also nice to have a 20 acre wood lot in other places.
Click to expand...
I agree with this.
The cattle business is something you have to enjoy, there's lots of work and aggravation along making little or no money.
 

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